Forging sustainable futures: A mixed-methods analysis of customer loyalty in Thailand's home-building industry

The pursuit of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals for sustainable cities requires a fundamental reevaluation of core industries. This study addresses this imperative by examining the drivers of customer loyalty within Thailand's volatile home-building sector, positioning loyalty as a strategic enabler of economic and social sustainability. In an environment of rising sustainability mandates and fragmenting consumer loyalty, the research aims to validate an integrated model that explains how sustainable business practices influence long-term customer relationships. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. The initial quantitative phase involved a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling analysis of survey data from 680 customers in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. This was followed by a qualitative phase, using thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 15 industry experts, academics, and clients to explain the quantitative results. The findings reveal a robust model that explains 72.4% of the variance in customer loyalty. The analysis demonstrates that sustainable marketing communication does not directly influence loyalty; its impact is entirely mediated through service quality and the firm's management system. Service quality emerges as the most significant direct predictor, underscoring that the tangible experience is the primary loyalty engine. The study concludes that fostering customer loyalty through a holistic approach centered on demonstrable service excellence and managerial competence is vital to enhancing firm-level resilience and advancing the broader goals of sustainable urban development in an emerging economy.